Some 4,000 years ago, a boy named Elmusu wished his Babylonian father good health and a long life by carving a Father’s Day message on a card made of clay. No one knows what happened to Elmusu or his father, but the tradition of having a special day honoring parents has continued through the years in countries around the world.
The idea for Father’s Day was conceived by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington, while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran who He was left to raise his six children alone on a rural farm.
Dr. Robert Webb of West Virginia is believed to have led the first Father’s Day service in 1908 at Fairmont Central Church.
President Lyndon B. Johnson recognized the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day with a presidential proclamation in 1966, but the holiday was not made permanent until 1972, when President Richard Nixon signed a presidential resolution officially making the third Sunday of June on Father’s Day in the United States.
Data about parents
There are an estimated 64.3 million fathers in the United States. US Census: Unpublished Data from the Program Participation and Income Survey
The number of single parents is 2.3 million, up from 393,000 in 1970. Today, among single parents living with their children, 18 percent are men. US Census
Stay-at-home fathers number approximately 140,00 in 2008. These married fathers with children under the age of 15 have stayed out of the labor force for at least a year primarily to be able to care for the family while their wives work outside the home. . These parents cared for 234,000 children. Among these stay-at-home parents, 54 percent had two or more children US Census: United States Families and Living Arrangements: 2008
The youngest father in the world is 6 years old and is from China.
Les Collies (92 years 10 months) was the world’s oldest sire.
Among the 11.3 million preschool-age children in the US whose mothers are employed, 25% are regularly cared for by their father during their mother’s work hours. This amounted to 2.9 million children. US Census: Who cares for the children? Child Care Arrangements: Spring 2005
In 2008 there were 1.8 million single parents in the United States. Currently, among single parents living with their children, 16 percent are men: eight percent were raising three or more children under the age of 18, while about 51 percent were divorced, 25 percent never married, 19 percent were separated, and 5 percent were widowed. US Census: United States Families and Living Arrangements: 2008
53% of children under the age of 6 ate breakfast and 71% ate dinner with their father every day in 2006. The corresponding percentages who ate with their mother were 58 percent and 80 percent. (The percentages of children who ate breakfast with their mother or father, respectively, were not significantly different from each other.) US Census: Children’s Day: 2006
36% of children under the age of 6 had 15 or more outings with their father in the past month, as of 2006. To children ages 3-5, their parents read to them an average of 6 times in the past week , as of 2006. US Census: Children’s Day: 2006
50 percent of all Father’s Day cards are bought for dads. Nearly 20 percent of Father’s Day cards are purchased for husbands. Other categories include grandparents, children, siblings, uncles, and someone special.
While Mother’s Day was the biggest holiday for phone calls in 2006, Father’s Day was the busiest for COLLECT calls. (In general, the busiest day of the year in 2006 for phone calls was the Monday after Thanksgiving. However, as cell phone use is increasing, “collect” calls are expected to decline .
Father’s Day is the fourth largest card-sending holiday in the United States, with 110 million cards exchanged annually.
Celebration of Father’s Day around the world in order of calendar date.
March 14 (24 Esfand) – Iran
March 19 – Belgium (Saint Joseph’s Day), Bolivia, Honduras, Italy, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Spain
May 8 – South Korea (Parents’ Day)
Ascension Day – Germany (Herrentag; drinking day, no Fatherhood celebration)
First Sunday of June – Lithuania
June 5 (Constitution Day) – Denmark
Second Sunday of June – Austria, Ecuador, Belgium (secular celebration)
June 17 – El Salvador, Guatemala
Third Sunday of June – Argentina, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Zimbabwe
June 23 – Nicaragua, Poland, Uganda
July 30 – Vietnam
Second Sunday of July – Uruguay
Last Sunday of July – Dominican Republic
Second Sunday of August – Brazil
August 8 – Taiwan
First Sunday in September – Australia, New Zealand
September New Moon (Bhadra according to the Lunar Calendar) September 11 – Nepal
First Sunday of October – Luxembourg
Second Sunday in November – Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden
December 5 – Thailand
As “non-traditional” family structures become more common, any loving man – an “older brother,” brother-in-law, uncle, neighbor, or perhaps another special man who is “like a father” is likely to be honored on Father’s Day.
Nine out of 10 Americans say they look forward to receiving personal letters and greeting cards because cards allow them to keep in touch with friends and family and make them feel important to someone else.
Although Americans value email, text messages, and phone calls to help them communicate with family and friends, most Americans say they prefer the old-fashioned handwritten card or letter to make someone feel really special.
No matter what day you celebrate, the point is to make Father’s Day special for the man you’re honoring. There are a lot of gifts out there, but if you really want to make someone feel special, reconnect them with past memories and feelings through personal photos. And how do you do that? Easy! Take a look at Mimi’s Memos personalized for you, they can be personalized for anyone: father, brother, uncle, etc. Make this a truly special Father’s Day for someone you care about and respect!
